Expansible and contractile mandrel.



PATENTBD SEPT. 19, 1909.

P. J. MASTERSON.

EXPANSIBLE AND GONTRAGTILE MANDRBL.

APPLIOATION I 'ILED MAY 20, 1905.

[M dummi- UNITE s a ATES PHILIP JEFFERSON MASTERSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXPANSIBLE AND CONTRACTILE NIANDREL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 20, 1905. Serial No. 261,311.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILIP JEFFERSON MAS- TERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cool: and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Expansible and Contractile Mandrels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements for printing establishments, and has particular reference to the means for supporting the large paper-rolls from which the paper is fed to printing-presses.

The method now employed for mounting the printing-press roll of paper is to insert tapered plugs in the ends of the tubular cen-' ter of the roll, which plugs are in turn secured to the axial shafts of the support. This method of centering the roll of paper in vogue in the press-rooms of the large dailies of the country has always been more or less unsatisfactory on account of the instability of the tapered plugs and the difficulty of obtaining a firm and true mount for the roll.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple mandrel which firmly grips the walls of the tubular axis of the paper-roll, which can be easily released from the empty spool forming said axis, which supports the -roll firmly against wabbling while the paper is fed therefrom to the press, and which may be positively engaged with the inner walls of the spool throughout the length of that portion of the mandrel which is inserted in the roll in contradistinction of the tapered plug, which engages only the outer edge of the spool-opening.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter pointed out in the detailed description and claims and illustrated in the drawings forming a part of this-specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents the supporting-shaft for a paper-roll partly broken off and partly sectional views of the right and left hand mandrels mounted on said shaft and in spool. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially on line XX of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the sleeve-sections mounted on the arbor of the mandrel. Fig. .L-is an enlarged view of one of the inner sleeves shown in Fig. 1 removed from the shaft and spool. Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the shaft-bearings and a paper-roll mounted on a shaft and on the mandrels constructed in accordance with my invention.

Referring to the drawings, 2 2 represent the core or spool of the roll 3, and 4 and 5 represent, respectively, the left and right hand mandrels, which are inserted in the ends of the spool 3in lieu of the usual tapered plugs.v A description of one of these mandrels will suffice for both. The center or arbor of-the mandrel is a tubular member 6, the inner walls of which form a circle, as shown in Fig. 2. The outer surface is formed to provide two semicylindrical eccentrics or cams 7 and 8, oppositely arranged. The point of the cam 8 farthestfrom the center of the inner circle of the arbor or tubular member 6 is the point of cam 7 nearest to said center, and the most remote point of cam 7 is the nearest point of cam 8, which produces shoulders 9 and 10, against which the edges of the semicylindrical sleeves 11 and 12 abut, as shown in Fig. 2. The peripheries of the two sleeves together form substantially a circle that is' concentric with the circle of the inner walls of the tubular member 6, while the inner walls of the sleeve members 11 and 12 conform to the outer contour of the tubular member ,6. On the end of the latter is a collar 13, secured to or forming a part of the member 6. This collar is provided with a set-screw 14:, serving to fasten the mandrel to the shaft 15. Holes 16 in said collar serve as sockets for a spindle or other suitable tool adapted for turning the collar to tighten or loosen the grip of the mandrel upon the paper-spool. Each of sleeve members 11 and 12 has upon its end adjacent to the collar 13 a flange 17, which is recessed at 18 to provide shoulders or stops 19 and 20, adapted to engage the pins 21 and 22, projecting laterally from collar 13. The curvatures of the cutaway portions 18 are arranged to permit the sleeve-sections 11 and 12 to move laterally away from each other when the arbor or member 6 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, causing the cam portions 7 and 8 to expand the sleeve comprising the members 11 and 12. The latter are tapered from edge to edge, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to correspond to the tapering of cam portions 7 and 8 of the member 6, the thicker portions of the sleeve members overlying the thin portions of member 6. The sleeve 11 12 and mandrel is contracted, as in Fig. 2. On the inner end of the arbor portion 6 of the mandrel is a flange 23, between which and the flange or collar 13 the sleeve members are held against longitudinal movement. Ridges 24 are preferably formed on the member 6 to reduce friction between the latter and the sleeve members, and the outer surfaces of the latter are preferably fluted or grooved longitudinally, as at 25, to increase the frictional engagement or hold of the expanded sleeve upon the spool or core 2. The cams are so arranged that when the paper-roll is unwound the friction of the core against the sleeve members will be in the direction tending to expand the latter or, in other words, to revolve pins 21 and 22 away from shoulders 20 toward shoulders 19. Rotation of the roll of paper thus makes the mandrels self-tightening. The right and left hand mandrels (shown in Fig. 1) are similar, with the exception that the flanges 17, 13, and 23 are arranged on the ends of the mandrel to the left oppositely with respect to the mandrel to the right, the flange 28 on the latter occupying the position of collar or flange 13 on the former, and so on.

In operation the paper-roll 3 is mounted on the shaft 15 in the usual manner. Mandrels 4 and 5 are then threaded onto the ends of the shaft and collapsed, so that the sleeve members 11 and 12 and members 6 may enter the ends of the spool 2, this collapse being effected by rotating the collar 13 and member 6 in opposition to the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, (assuming that the mandrels have previously been expanded, so that pins 21 and 22 engage shoulders 19 instead of shoulders 20, as shown in Fig. 2.) The sleeve members are then expanded into the opening of the core by rotating collar 13 and member 6 of each mandrel in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, until the walls of the opening in the spool or core have been tightly engaged. It is understood, of course, that the opening in the spool is smaller than the expanded mandrels. The roll of paper being rotated in the opposite direction, the unwinding of the paper will tend to slide the sleeve members 11 and 12 in the direction of the high points of cam portions 7 and 8, and thus still further tighten the engagement. By means of set-screws 14 the inner part 6 f the mandrel is secured to the shaft 15. To release the mandrels from the empty spool 2 or from the partly-used paper-roll, the collars 13 and inner members 6 are rotated in the opposite direction or to cause pins 21 and 22 to move away from shoulders 19 toward shoulders 20. The curvatures of the cut-away portions 18 are in arcs of circles eccentric to the inner circles of members 6, and said curvatures are in directions away from said circles from shoulders 19 to shoulders 20, thereby causing the pins 21 and 22 to force the sleeve members 11 and 12 toward each other during the aforementioned contracting movements.

As will appear from the foregoing description, the mandrel comprises an inner and an outer sleeve which together form a compound cylinder of substantially uniform thickness or with concentric outer and inner. walls, while the adjacent faces of said sleeves, or, in other words, the outer surface of the inner sleeve and the inner surface of the outer sleeve, describe two semicylindrical surfaces upon each, which surfaces are eccentric to each other and to the inner and outer surfaces of said compound cylinder.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a mandrel, the combination with an inner tubular member, of adivided sleeve, said member and sleeve having coacting surfaces which are eccentric to their longitudinal axes, whereby relative rotation of said member and sleeve will cause the latter to expand or con tract.

2. In a mandrel, the combination with an inner tubular member, of sleeve members mounted thereupon, said tubular member and sleeve members having coacting surfaces which are both eccentric to the bore of said tubular member, whereby relative rotation of said sleeve members and tubular member in opposite directions will cause said sleeve members to contract or expand their circumference according to the directions of relative rotations.

3. In a mandrel, the combination with a shaft, of a tubular cam member, sleeve members arranged about said cam member, said cam and sleeve members having coacting camsurfaces which are eccentric to the bore of said cam member and also eccentric to the circumference of said sleeve members, whereby relative rotation of said cam member and sleeve members will cause said sleeve members to move toward or away from said cam member.

4. In a mandrel, the combination with an inner tubular member adapted to be mounted vupon a shaft, of outer and substantially semicylindrical members mounted on said inner tubular member, said inner and outer members having adjacent cam-faces operating to expand or contract said semicylindrical members when the latter are rotated relatively to said inner tubular member.

5. The combination with a supporting-shaft, of an inner and an outer sleeve, the outer sleeve consisting of two substantially or approximately semicylindrical sections, the interior of the inner sleeve being substantially concentric with the exterior of the outer sleeve, said inner sleeve having two substantially semicylindrical peripheral surfaces and the outer sleeve having corresponding surfaces, all of said surfaces describing arcs which are eccentric to the inner surface of said inner sleeve and the outer surfaces of said outer sleeve, and means for holding said inner and outer sleeves in close contact with each other during their relative rotation.

6. The combination with a supporting-shaft,

of a pair of mandrels each consisting of an inner and an outer sleeve, the latter comprising two sections, said sleeves together forming substantially a cylinder, said sleeves having oppositely-arranged coacting cam-faces which are eccentric to the inner circumference of said cam member and to the outer circumference of said sleeve members, and means for supporting said cam-faces in their relative positions.

7 The combination with a shaft'adapted to support a roll of paper, of a-cylindrical member 6, the periphery of which has recesses therein which form oppositely-arranged cams 7 and 8, the sleeve members 11 and 12 occupying said recesses, said member 6 being rotatable relatively to the members 11 and 12 to expand or contract the latter.

8. The combination with a shaft, of an inner and an outer sleeve, said outer sleeve be ing comprised of two parts which correspond, substantially, in interior outlines to the exterior outlines of said inner sleeve, said sleeves forming in cross-section a ring of substantially uniform thickness, the adjacent faces of said sleeves describing substantially two semicircles whose lines of curvature intersect each other and the circle of said ring.

9. The combination with a shaft, of a pair of mandrels, each of said mandrels consisting of an inner and an outer sleeve, the interior wall of said inner sleeve being substantially cylindrical while its outer surface or surfaces comprises or comprise two oppositely-disposed semicylindrical surfaces which are eccentric to each other and to said cylindrical wall, said outer sleeve comprising two sections which together correspond, substantially, in interior outline to the exterior outline of said inner sleeve, the outer surfaces of said sections being substantially with said cylindrical wall, means for rotating said inner and outer sleeves relatively to each other, and means interlocking said inner and outer sleeves for relative eccentric movement.

10. The combination with a supportingshaft and a hollow paper-roll spool or core, of a pair of mandrels, each of said mandrels consisting of an inner and an outer sleeve, the latter made in two substantially semicylindrical sections and mounted to rotate about said inner sleeve, means for securing the latter to said shaft, means for securing said outer sleeve to said inner sleeve against any but rotary movement, said inner and outer sleeves being constructed to provide coacting camfaces arranged in arcs of circles that are eccentric to the bore of said inner sleeve and the periphery of said outer sleeve,said outer sleeve having in said periphery the longitudinal grooves 25 to increase frictional engagement thereof with said core, and said inner sleeve having the circumferential ridges or raised portions 24 which decrease friction between said inner and said outer sleeve. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PHILIP JEFFERSON MASTERSON.

Witnesses: CHAS. M. MOORE,

- MAX STENGEL. 

